Board of Directors

Kirk Malloy, Ph.D., Chairman

Dr. Malloy has held management and executive leadership positions in rapidly growing life science and diagnostic companies for 20 years. He is currently an independent consultant for life science companies and serves as an independent director for public and private companies, including igenomx and Edico Genome. He was most recently the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Life Sciences and Applied Markets Business of Illumina, Inc., a position he held from January 2014 to April 2016. Dr. Malloy joined Illumina in 2002, and served in a number of executive leadership positions, including Vice President, Global Customer Solutions from 2007 to 2013, Vice President, Global Quality from 2005 to 2007 and Senior Director, Global Customer Solutions from 2002 to 2005. Prior to joining Illumina, Dr. Malloy held commercial leadership positions at Biosite, Inc. and commercial management positions at Qiagen, Inc. Before joining the industry, Dr. Malloy spent several years as an academic scientist teaching and conducting research. Dr. Malloy received his B.S. degrees in Biology and Marine Science from the University of Miami and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Biology/ Biochemistry from the University of Delaware and held post-doctoral positions at Boston University and Northeastern University. Dr. Malloy has 12 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, dozens of invited and contributed scientific presentations and has been a reviewer for various scientific journals.

Robert Baltera, Jr., M.S., M.B.A.

Mr. Baltera has served as entrepreneur-in-residence at the venture capital firm of Frazier Healthcare Partners since January 2016, and is chief executive officer of Hawkeye Therapeutics, a company funded by Frazier Healthcare. A seasoned pharmaceutical industry executive, Mr. Baltera acquired a wealth of business and product management experience during 17 years with biotech pioneer Amgen. Previously, from February 2015 until December 2015, Mr. Baltera served as CEO and a member of the board of directors of Laguna Pharmaceuticals, a privately-funded biotechnology company. In his recent role as CEO of Amira Pharmaceuticals, he led the company to acquisition by Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company. He was instrumental in focusing Amira’s development efforts, strengthening and developing its pipeline and forging key collaborations with partners such as GlaxoSmithKline. Before becoming Amira’s CEO, Mr. Baltera held a number of senior management positions at Amgen, the last being vice president of corporate and contract manufacturing. He successfully used his collective experience to serve as team leader responsible for the approval of Kineret™ in rheumatoid arthritis, a highlight of his many accomplishments while at Amgen. Mr. Baltera currently serves on the board of directors of Xencor, Inc., a publicly-held biotechnology development company, and also serves on the board of directors of the following private companies: Panmira Pharmaceuticals, LLC, FLAP, LLC, and Ruga Corporation, as well as an industry group, the San Diego Venture Group. Mr. Baltera holds an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles and earned a B.S. in Microbiology and an M.S. in Genetics from The Pennsylvania State University.

Taylor J. Crouch, Chief Executive Officer and President

Mr. Crouch has over 25 years of experience building and leading technology, expertise and product-based companies in the life sciences and biotech industries. For more than seven years, he has managed and served as an operational investor in a group of leading clinical research site companies. Specifically, Mr. Crouch served as Chief Executive Officer at eStudySite, a position he held from January 2009 to June 2016; as Executive Chairman of Meridien Research from December 2013 to September 2016; and as a Director of the National Research Institute from September 2011 through July 2016. He was instrumental in building these three sister companies, and helping them to achieve significant and profitable growth and to become recognized leaders in their respective fields of infectious disease, CNS disorders and metabolic disease. Prior to this, Mr. Crouch served as Senior Vice President of Operations/President International at Ligand Pharmaceuticals from 2005 to 2007, with responsibilities for new business development, technical operations, international sales and clinical research. Prior to Ligand, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Discovery Partners International (NASDAQ: formerly DPII – a large drug discovery services and technology provider). Earlier in his career, he was Chief Executive Officer of Variagenics (NASDAQ: formerly VGNX – a leading pharmacogenomics company), Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Parexel – a global CRO, and he also held international management positions in new product development and commercialization at Pfizer and Schering Plough. Mr. Crouch holds a BSE in chemical engineering, cum laude, from Princeton University and an MBA in international marketing and finance from the University of Chicago.

James T. Glover, M.B.A., C.P.A.

Mr. Glover was the Senior Vice President, Operations and Chief Financial Officer of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company acquired by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., from 2006 2009. From 1989-2006, he served at Beckman Coulter, Inc., a leading biomedical testing instruments company, most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Glover served on the Board of Directors and as audit committee chairman of Varian, Inc. until its acquisition by Agilent in 2010. Mr. Glover received his B.S. in accounting from California State Polytechnic University and his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. Mr. Glover is also a certified public accountant (CPA) and a chartered global management accountant (CGMA).

Tamar D. Howson, M.S., M.B.A.

Ms. Howson is a seasoned business development executive within the pharmaceutical industry. She has served as a corporate business development and strategy consultant to biopharmaceutical companies since 2011. From 2009 to 2011, she served as a member of the transaction advisory firm, JSB-Partners, providing business development support to life sciences companies. From 2007 to 2008, Ms. Howson served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Business Development at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company. Prior to joining Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Howson served as Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb and SmithKline Beecham plc. Ms. Howson currently serves on the board of directors of Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc. and Enzymotec PLC. During the prior five years, Ms. Howson served as a director of the following publicly traded companies: Actavis plc; Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc.; OXiGENE, Inc., Soligenix, Inc., Warner Chilcott plc and Cardax, Inc. Ms. Howson holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University, a M.S. from City University of New York, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Technion, Israel.

Mark Kessel, J.D.

Mr. Kessel is a partner of Symphony Capital, LLC, a private equity firm he co-founded in 2002 that invests in biopharmaceutical company clinical development programs. He is also Of Counsel at Shearman & Sterling and a member of the firm’s capital markets group. Previously, from 1971 to 2001, Mr. Kessel held various roles at Shearman & Sterling, including as managing partner leading the international law firm’s day-to-day operations. He helped build the firm, serving as a leader in the healthcare, biopharmaceutical, agricultural biotech, high-tech, and financial services practices. He also established the firm’s San Francisco office, serving as its managing partner and turning it into the leader in M&A, capital markets, corporate governance, and intellectual property and licensing issues. Mr. Kessel has previously served on several public biopharmaceutical company boards. Mr. Kessel holds a J.D. magna cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law and a B.A. in Economics from The City College of New York.

Richard Maroun, J.D.

Richard Maroun is an executive partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in healthcare-focused investments. Before joining Frazier in 2015, Maroun was senior vice president and general counsel of Aptalis Pharmaceuticals from 2012 to 2014. He has also held numerous senior executive roles for APP Pharmaceuticals, Abraxis BioScience and American BioScience Inc. Mr. Maroun has worked with major financial organizations and independent law firms, and has held both legal and financial positions with companies including Merrill Lynch, Deloitte & Touche and McDonough, Holland & Allen. Mr. Maroun currently serves on the board of Leiter’s Enterprises, a private portfolio company of Frazier Healthcare Partners, and the Board of Trustees of John Carroll University. Mr. Maroun holds a J.D. from Santa Clara University Law School and a B.S. from John Carroll University.